Sam and the trio left the bar after drinking for some time.
"Boss, why did you ask for that exchanging notes or something? Don't tell me, you are hitting on her. If it is so, don't even try. That Gran guy is a crazy piece of shit. He might try to kill you."
"Why would he try to kill me?" Sam asked casually.
"Well, you are hitting on his girl, aren't you?"
"Isn't it true that he made a point many times to the people who tried to get him through her? He doesn't have any relationship with her. So, nobody should bother her for him. Now, I am bothering her for her."
"I don't think that is true though, he might have just used that as a cover, so that nobody would bother her."
"There is only one way to find out."
The next day, Sam went to the bar again. But this time, he didn't bring the trio along with him, they are waiting nearby the bar, but they didn't come inside.
"I thought you were bringing a friend. Why are you here alone?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"Who said I didn't bring him?" Sam replied and waved his hand to let Ape out. Along with ape, he took out a bunch of alcohol samples. He took out every alcohol that they ever created, no matter how low level it is at this point.
The bartender looked at the ape who is managing the liquor in surprise. She then looked at Sam who just took a seat and watched the show.
"Are you serious?" She asked him with a hint of doubt and of course, the ape didn't like the question and he is not afraid to show his emotions outright and that led to him roaring at her face.
"You are hurting my friend's feelings like that. Trust me, he is a great liquor maker."
"Sure then, let us see what he's got." She replied and took out a bunch of her samples.
And soon they tasted each other's samples and a discussion broke out. The bartender directly spoke her opinions out loud, Sam translated Ape's thoughts, and soon the discussion broke into an argument on who is a better winemaker and how beer is a better beverage for relaxation, and so on.
After an hour and a half of some fierce argument, Sam finally broke it and sent the ape back to the divine dimension.
"Looks like my friend won," Sam said with a smile as he took the seat at the counter once again.
The bartender bit her lower lip as she reluctantly agreed to his evaluation.
"Where did you get that ape?"
"From my hometown."
"How did he become so good at this? Isn't that kind of ape more suitable for battle? Liquor making is a delicate thing after all."
"Of course, he battles. In fact, he is better at that than liquor making. But he enjoys liquor as much as he enjoys battle, so I let him be and it is also good for my business. It is a win-win for both of us."
"You are in the liquor business."
"Of course, I am. Who would be stupid enough to not make use of these kinds of recipes? At least, I am not."
"Do you sell recipes?"
"Of course, for the right price, yes."
"How much for the beer recipe?"
"Are you sure you want that one? The land here is not suitable for agriculture. You cannot grow enough wheat for the beer."
"I will take care of that. Just say the price and we can think about other issues later."
Sam smiled and said.
"A billion spirit stones."
"Are you crazy or do you think I am stupid?"
"I don't think either of those assumptions is true, but my price is."
"That is way too expensive."
"How could it be considered expensive, I have sold the recipe for even more money in many realms. There is even an auction where it went for three billion in one realm. I am actually giving you a discount because I am impressed by your skill in this liquor trade.
Anyway, from your pricing range, you would be getting it back in a few months. After all, you are the only successful bar in the surroundings and if you buy the beer recipe, there won't be another successful bar around here."
"You are here to sell liquor recipes to the bar owners?"
"Not particularly, I am here to do some business, the liquor recipes are not the only ones I have in my hand."
"Okay, let me have some time to think about it. But until then, don't sell any liquor recipe to anyone."
"I can put the beer on hold, but why the rest?"
"I might want to buy them too. Anyway, since I agreed to your exchange, this is the least you can do."
"Okay then, if you put it that way, I agree. But make your decision quickly."
With that, Sam walked towards the door, but before he left, he stopped at the wall and the letterbox as he placed his hands on it.
"How does this guy get these letters and reply on the wall?" He asked her while she started polishing her glasses.
"Who knows? I never saw him come and take the letters when I am here. Sometimes, I stayed overnight just to see if he would come, but he didn't, but somehow the letters still managed to reach him."
"Must be some legendary thief. I would really like to meet him."
"Why?"
"Just like why we met today. To appreciate an expert."
With that Sam left the bar and went back to their temporary residence.
"Boss, are you really not hitting on her? I thought you are here to recruit people, but why are you doing business?"
"I am not just doing business. I have some doubts?"
"What?"
"I think she is Gran."
"Hahahaha" The Saber Monarch started laughing like crazy, when everyone looked at him, he controlled the laughter and said.
"I am sorry, but that is hilarious because at first, I thought the same. But both of them are not the same. Her bar was always open when he robbed something. Even though both of them are not seen together in the same spot at the same time, they were seen in different spots at the same time."
Sam went into deep thought and said.
"Okay, Five Elemental King will go there and make an assignment in there according to my instructions and we will test this theory."
After that, Sam wrote down the details and made a letter which the five elemental King dropped in the letterbox.
Sam then sent one of the chess pieces he had on hand to the city lake discreetly and let him practice with a sword there the whole evening.
After that, the chess piece went to a nearby inn to stay the night.
This repeated for the two days and every day, Sam and his team visited the bar, either together or in separate times. On these days, Sam noticed something. The cocktails are not offered every day.
This made him feel suspicious, but the Saber Monarch ruled that out too, saying that it was also noticed by someone else, but it was mostly mere coincidence that the cocktails are not served on most of the thefts, but there are times they were served even on the days robberies happened.
But Sam didn't exactly buy that explanation. There is a reason why Sam felt this suspicious about this lady.
First one is the cocktail. They were done with the help of space elemental energy. He didn't want to use the energy vision in front of her, but he is sensitive to spatial energy and when the cocktail was served, he could feel the traces.
A spatial user who is a bartender is a bit of a stretch but not impossible, but he couldn't find her cultivation level, with normal measures, but when he looked at her from afar with energy vision, he could find traces of some heavy concealment.
So, he moved to the wall next. When he touched the letterbox and the wall, he used the observation ability, albeit for a brief moment, he managed to notice something. Behind a boatload of concealments which he bypassed roughly, there is a spatial energy formation within the box.
If his guess is correct, Gran might not even be taking the letters out, they might be delivered to somewhere else directly.
He just needs one more link to directly connect both of them. Just one link.
That is why he placed an assignment on one of his chess piece's head. So, when he found out that his assignment was accepted, he was excited and looked forward to seeing what is going to happen.
After they confirmed that the assignment was taken, the five elemental King got a separate message from Gran. Within the assignment, they have to mention a comfortable meeting point that would be explored by Gran before confirming the assignment.
So, Gran left a message there and Five elemental King went there alone. There was a time mentioned on it at which the five elemental kings collect the merchandise and he also has to give the money.
After getting that message, Sam sent a shadow mice along with the chess piece. His job is to not tail gran, rather just stay far away and watch the whole robbery while carefully recording it. If Gran is really a shadow user, he might find out shadow mice's movement while tailing which made Sam ignore that idea.
